Nightmare
by CrystalDream
Summary: Danny must participate in the annual Casper high Insomniathon for extra credit, but during the weekend-long all-nighter, he starts acting strangely. When his condition worsens, Danny's desperate parents turn to the only person they think can help...Vlad.
1. Prologue

**Should I be posting a new story? Probably not. Am I going to anyways? You bet ;D**

**Actually, this story is mostly for stress relief on my part. I've been dealing with a lot of tension and anxiety lately and I figured, why not relax through writing? Hopefully having this little writing project on the side will help me a little. Then again, it's not just about me- I do hope you guys will enjoy this story. I got the idea and I just couldn't resist...  
**

**This will eventually be a Vlad and Danny story (not slash though). I've realized how much I love the two in the father-son relationship and I really want to try something new with them. We'll see how it works. Anyways, I hope you'll enjoy and keep reading; of course I love writing, ****but the reason I ever continue is because of you guys' support. I hope you guys will enjoy this. Oh, and this story takes place right after the ultimate enemy...like a few weeks later.  
**

**Crystal**

**SUMMARY**

**Danny is forced to participate in the annual Casper high Insomniathon due to his spiraling grades. During the weekend-long all-nighter, Danny starts acting strangely. When his odd behaviour continues, the hybrid's parents, family and friends start to worry. Desperate to save their son, Danny's parents turn to the only person that they know can help...Vlad.**

* * *

Prologue

Perhaps one of the most amazing things about Edward Lancer was his remarkable ability to drone on endlessly about subjects that no one but him could be bothered about. Though, that was probably what made him such an amazing educator that he was not only teaching three subjects, but also acting as temporary vice-principal at Casper High. Today, he drawled on about some obscure author of the nineteenth century, under the impression that his students were obediently taking notes and never once daring to imagine that over half the class was busy sleeping, playing cards, or chatting quietly... loudly in Paulina and Starr's case. And in the back of the class sat Tucker, Danny and Sam, whispering quietly.

"I'm going crazy. Absolutely crazy." The raven-haired boy leaned against the rear of his chair, letting himself slide down a bit against the metal backing. He brought a hand to his head and started rubbing his temples…things had not been going well for Danny lately.

Apparently, this was very clear to Sam and Tucker, who shot each other worried glances as they observed Danny. Sam, who had turned in her seat to face the two boys, put down the comic book she'd previously been entertaining herself with, and gave a concerned frown before placing a hand on Danny's outstretched one. "Danny, don't say that. You're fine."

"No, I'm not," he replied firmly. "Yesterday I was fighting about seven of those little blob ghosts, and then _'poof!'_- just as I was about to get in another punch, they disappeared. They just _vanished_."

Tucker frowned. Giving Danny a skeptical look, he pointed out, "Well, dude, they're ghosts. Isn't that what they do?"

Danny sighed. "Yeah, but not like that…I mean usually they fly off, or they'll turn invisible and fly off. I can't see them, but I can sense them until they leave the area. These ones though- they just vanished! I dunno…I'm starting to question whether or not I was even fighting them…"

"Dude, maybe you're just imagining things because you haven't gotten a good night's sleep in.…how long now?"

"About two weeks," the young halfa replied absentmindedly, not quite realizing how outrageous his statement was, though true.

Sam looked surprised. "Ouch. You've gotta get some rest, Danny. This really isn't healthy."

Stealing a glance from Mr. Lancer, who was far too intrigued in whatever nonsense he was teaching his students in order to pay attention to them, Danny suddenly gave a weary smile. "Yeah, well neither are Lancer's lectures, but we've still gotta endure them."

Tucker snorted while Sam gave the two boys a pointed look. She was about to say something, but lucky for the boys, the school bell chose that precise moment to ring.

_Ring!_

Everyone clambered out of their seats, forcing Lancer to yell in order to make himself heard over the bell and the racket made by the students. "Austen's _Emma_, people!" he cried as he swerved to avoid Paulina's vanilla-scented hair swishing in his face. "Don't forget to get your permission slips for the _Insomniathon_ signed! Remember, it is **not **optional to those with a current average of seventy percent or less. And for the rest of you, don't miss out; it's for a good cause!"

Danny rolled his eyes as he made for the door. "Great," he muttered under his breath. "So you allow your grades to drop in order to keep your fellow citizens safe and you're rewarded by having to spend forty-eight hours with no sleep in the same room as your dorkwad classmates." While trying to push his way through the bustling crowd, Danny felt a hand rest on his shoulder. "Mr Fenton, I'll be seeing you at the _Insomniathon_, I trust," Mr. Lancer said. More of a statement than a question, Danny nodded in reply.

"Yes, sir."

With a satisfied smile, Mr. Lancer returned to his desk. Danny quickly left the room, his friends at his side. As they walked through the halls, Sam noticed Danny's sulky expression. Sympathetically, she tried to cheer up her friend. "Aw, cheer up Danny. It'll be fun."

"Yeah, about as much fun as having Vlad over for a slumber party," Danny replied, the thought causing his face to scrunch up in disgust. "Why are you going anyways? You and Tuck already have pretty good grades…"

"Hey, it's for charity," Tucker shrugged. "Besides, staying up for a whole weekend around all these hotties?" With a grin, he gestured at the girls in the hallway, many of which were applying makeup at their lockers or giggling giddily with their friends. "After all that lack of sleep, one of them's bound to agree to let me take them to the Spring Dance."

"Don't hold your breath," Sam said teasingly. Tucker stuck his tongue playfully out at the goth girl.

Danny opened his locker and let his books fall in with a loud thud. Stuffing the permission slip in his backpack, he slung the purple bag over his shoulder. After stopping at Tucker and Sam's lockers, the three freshmen fought through the crowd of students and headed outside, the fresh air beating against their faces.

"So we're still up for the movie tonight?" Sam asked, wrapping her jacket around her bare, cold midriff.

"You know it! _Monster Mania 3_- it's going to totally blow the last _Monster_ movie out of the park!" Tucker exclaimed, punching the air with fist out of excitement. He'd ordered the tickets three months in advance through his PDA and was boasting to everyone who would listen that he'd beat the box office rush to the best movie of the year- possibly the decade!

"Yeah, I'm still up for it too," Danny agreed. "I just need to get home and sign this permission slip before I meet up at your place, Sam."

Tucker looked disappointed. "Can't it wait, dude? We're scheduled for a videogame marathon till six."

"Nah," Danny said with a sigh. "I'll probably forget if I don't do it now…and then Lancer will give me detention for the rest of my life. I'll meet up with you guys in a bit, 'kay?"

Sam and Tucker shrugged and continued towards the girl's mansion after bidding their friend farewell. Danny headed to the nearest fire hydrant and, crouching behind it, he let two white rings appear around his waist and travel to either ends of his body. He loved going ghost…it was like he was releasing a burden of energy that he had suppressed while in human form. And the feel of the ghostly energy around in his hands was so invigorating that sometimes he just 'went ghost' in his bedroom in order to feel the power…although that was a habit he'd given up recently. After his meeting with his dark future-self, Danny had become much more cautious with savoring the feeling of his powers…

Taking off into the air, Danny headed for his house, with only the wind in his face to keep him from falling asleep.

* * *

Danny's fingers drummed against the blue vinyl covering on the kitchen table as he waited patiently for his mom to finish reading through the sheet he'd given her.

"I dunno, sweetheart," Maddie said uncertainly as she read through the paper her son had given her. "You've already been so tired lately. Is it really a good idea to go to this _Insomniathon_?"

"Well, I don't really have a choice, Mom," Danny answered, passing his mom a pen in order to prompt her to sign it. Just for added measure, he gave her a 'I've been a good boy so can you please just sign it now?' look.

Reluctantly, she took the pen and signed the slip of paper. "But be sure you get plenty of rest before going, alright dear? I don't want you to overexert yourself."

With an absentminded nod, Danny took the paper and the pen. He mumbled a quick thank you and was about to leave the kitchen when Jazz walked in, holding a textbook in one hand an empty plate in the other.

"Hey is that for the _Insomniathon_?" she asked excitedly, noticing the paper over her brother's shoulder. "Oh you're so lucky you get to participate! It'll be loads of fun."

"Yeah, says _you,_" Danny raised an eyebrow.

Rolling her eyes, Jazz headed for the fridge. "Danny, you'll enjoy it. It'll be good for you to go out and have some fun."

"Whatever," Danny muttered under his breath. Then turning to his mother, he said, "Okay, I'm gonna go to Sam's, mom."

Maddie had returned her attention to the ghost detector she'd previously been working on and was therefore unlikely to respond in the near future. Taking her ignorance of his statement as a 'yes' Danny exited the kitchen. Happy to be out of his family's company for awhile, Danny quickly headed for the door before he could run into his father, who would probably want to blather on about his newest invention. Once out of the house, he let himself transform into his alterego and flew towards Sam's.

* * *

**Well? Very short, I know, but this is just the prologue. One of the things I really want to work on in this story is lengthening the chapters a little. I also really want to work on improving my descriptions for this story instead of just filling it with dialogue...so any suggestions are welcome ;D**

**Please leave me a review!  
**

**Crystal  
**


	2. Chapter 1: The Nightmare Begins

**Here we are- Chapter 1 is finished! Whew! I stayed up late to post and edit this one for you guys. I really hope you guys like it! And thank you all so much for your reviews/favs/alerts for the last chapter. They really made me smile and I appreciated each and everyone of them. :) As with the prologue, comments are welcome. They really help me through the tough times, so again, thank you.  
**

**In any case, for my updating schedule, I don't know how regular or frequent it will be but I'll do my best, especially since I'm so excited about this story ;)  
**

**Okay, enjoy guys, and let me know what you think!  
**

* * *

Chapter 1: The Nightmare Begins

Danny tossed and turned violently in his bed, trying desperately to wake himself up. He couldn't take it anymore...he just_ couldn't_...he _had_ to wake up. And yet, the dream was so real that he simply didn't know how to put an end to it. The frighteningly vivid colours and the terrifying clarity of the scene that was unfolding in his psyche was too much for him to handle...

_His voice trembled. "I-I don't believe you. You're not me."_

_The figure in front of him gave an ominous yet strangely empty laugh. "How quaint. You still fancy yourself the hero, huh? The good guy?" Then, with a snarl, he muttered, "I forgot how annoyingly righteous I was."_

_The teenager gulped. With a weak but determined voice, he managed to spit out, "Just stop bothering me! You can't make me hurt my family and friends! I won't let it happen!"_

_A snort escaped the older ghost's mouth. His flowing cape and glowing eyes loomed before Danny's face. Then suddenly, the blue-eyed teen felt the older ghost grab him by the front of his shirt and lift him off the ground, bringing him dangerously close to his growling, blue face. Danny steadied his breathing, trying not to appear as frightened as he was. But he couldn't help but flinch when his captor spoke. _

_"Is that so?" a leer formed on his ghostly face.  
_

_"Yeah," he challenged feebly, unable to let the full determination through his voice. "Yeah, that is so..."_

_Then, suddenly, all the colours and background of his dream seemed to wash into one another, phasing into a dark, evening sky. Danny was breathing quickly. His mouth was dry as he flew through the sky, trying in vain to lose his predator._

_"There's no use in running, Danny. You can't get away from me. You ARE me."_

_Still tearing through the air, he gulped, muttering repeatedly, "No, no I'm not you. You're not me. I'll NEVER be like you. No matter what..."_

_But then, Dan seemed to catch up to him, and Danny was now in his grip again, unable to breathe. The older ghost ripped a time medallion- that Danny hadn't even noticed -off Phantom's chest and held it high in the air, as if it were some precious prize. Then, it one swift movement, he shoved the medal into the boy's body, locking it within him._

_"You're going to love it," he smirked, relishing the thought. "The feeling of power you'll have. You'll be able to do whatever you want. With no consequences."_

_"I don't want that. I don't want to do whatever I want," Danny squirmed hopelessly beneath Dan's tight and firm hold. "I don't want..."_

_But his helpless pleas were ignored as a menacing laughter filled the air...a terrifying laughter...it was too much. It was all too much... he was suffocating under the older ghost's powerful grip..._

"AGH!" The teen bolted upright in bed. A cold sweat had broken out on his face and he was panting helplessly. Then, realizing it was just a nightmare, he brought a hand up to his forehead, wiping it of the perspiration. With a swallow, he weakly mumbled, "That was way too real for comfort." He kicked the covers off himself, and checking his clock, saw that it was time to get to school for the Insomniathon anyways. He slipped into a pair of socks and headed to the washroom, still slightly shaken from his dream.

As he brushed his teeth, he let his thoughts wander. That was the second time that week that he'd had the same nightmare. Well, the same type anyways. One about...Dan. It had been happening ever since he'd done the SATs almost three weeks ago. He figured the dreams would stop eventually, but apparently the memory of his future self was still too fresh for him to forget. He spit out his toothpaste and dried his face before heading back for his room.

Barely paying any attention to what outfit he was changing into (he always wore the same thing anyways), he wondered vaguely why he refused to tell his friends about his dreams. Obviously he couldn't tell Jazz- she'd just fret over him as usual. But Tucker and Sam...why not tell them? Honestly, the dreams were getting a bit too much to handle and he did sort of relish the idea of telling someone...

But, no. He couldn't bring himself to do it. "It would just worry them," he decided with firm resolve. "They don't need anymore of my problems to deal with anyways."

As he packed his bag though, Danny realized that wasn't the only thing stopping him from telling his friends. He'd never really told his friends about EVERYTHING that had happened with Dan. About how much the elder halfa had terrified him. About how scared he was of turning into him. And to suddenly drop this 'nightmare' business on them...well, he worried they wouldn't fully understand how he felt.

With a sigh, he zipped up his overnight bag and headed downstairs, where his parents were waiting to drive him to school.

* * *

The room was abuzz with light conversation as students entered the classroom in groups, chattering and carrying their overnight bags. Every time someone entered the room, Lancer would put a checkmark next to their name on the list in his hands and signal for them to drop their bags near the board before heading for their seats. Finally, at eight, everyone was gathered in the room, sitting and waiting for Mr. Lancer to officiate the weekend.

"Good afternoon, students," he drawled in his usual monotonous voice. "As you know, we'll be spending the next few days together for the annual, semi-compulsory Insomniathon. Starr here," he said, gesturing towards the blond cheerleader, "Will be explaining the rules to you." With a huge smile on her face Starr headed to the front of the class and set down some papers she had in her hands on the desk before speaking in a bright and bubbly tone. "Hi everyone! I'm Starr, your class president..."

"We know who you are. We've been in the same class for two months now," some kid in the back of the room blurted impatiently. A few kids laughed and Starr frowned at him before flipping her hair and continuing as if nothing had happened.

"Okay! So here's how the Insomnia weekend works! Basically, we're going to divide into groups of four, and each group is going to try to make it until Sunday without falling asleep. The group with the most members who're still awake on Sunday wins! They'll get to choose which charity will receive the proceeds of next week's fundraisers and they'll win a free pizza lunch from Milo's, one of our sponsors."

"So we just have to stay up?" a girl in the front asked.

"That's the idea!" she beamed. "If ever you _do _fall asleep, you will only be disqualified if you can't wake up before thirty minutes have passed. Of course, we'll have activities throughout the weekend to help keep you awake. Make sure to participate, because that's important criteria for the choice of the winning group! If you have three people awake, but another group who showed more team spirit only has two people who're awake, it's possible that the committee might decide that they win." A few groans at the thought of team spirit, notably from Sam, were greeted by Starr's statement. Oblivious, she continued, "Anyways, you'll also have plenty of free time to just hang out with your group or with other ones. Remember, we want to have fun and make friends!"

Danny thought Starr's face might burst if she didn't stop smiling so much. Luckily for him (and the rest of the students who were getting annoyed with her peppiness), Mr. Lancer chose that moment to thank her and shoo her off to her seat.

"Alright, we'll now be dividing into groups. Group 1 will please congregate over in this corner." The teacher began calling out names. Tucker, Sam and Danny looked at each other hopefully, each of them hoping to end up in the same group.

"Samantha, Tucker, Valerie and-,"

Danny held his breath.

"Paulina. Over in this corner please."

Sam's eyes widened in horror. "_Paulina?_ _And Valerie?_" She stared at the two girls who were walking up to the front of the class, shooting each other dirty looks, while Tucker gave Danny an apologetic look. With a shrug of understanding, Danny watched his techno geek friend drag a protesting Sam over to the other two girls. Several more groups were called out and it had been at least ten minutes before Danny finally started to get impatient. _Just how many people is Lancer going to call out before he says my name? _he thought irately._  
_

"Dash, Kwan, Claire and…

Daniel."

_Crap. _

Biting his lip, Danny stole a glance from Mr. Lancer, who raised his eyebrows impatiently, waiting for the teen to get up. Reluctantly, Danny walked over to Dash and Kwan, who were already considerably larger and taller than him, but more so when standing so close to him. Dash sneered at him before nudging the Asian quarterback next to him. "We're going to have lots of fun this weekend, huh Kwan?"

Claire soon joined the group. She was a brunette who sat behind Danny in Spanish class, though he'd never really paid much attention to her. All he knew was that she was a competitive overachiever who went to any lengths to get her way. Teachers dreaded handing out corrected tests and projects because the moment they did, she was all over them was a list of questions the size of California concerning 'where she lost the three percent that was missing from an otherwise perfect grade'.

She confidently strode into the group, standing between Danny and the jocks, before stating very matter-of-factly, "I hope you all realize that I'm going to be team leader if we want to have even a shadow of a chance at winning this."

"Team leader?" Danny asked skeptically, slightly offended at her patronizing tone of voice.

"Yes. I heard Starr say we're going to have team leaders for the activities and if we don't want to lose this Insomnia thing," she gave a small, conceited laugh, "well let's face it- I'm going to have to do most of the work. I do hope that's clear?" She was so firm in her resolve to take over the group that even Kwan looked a little bit taken aback by her.

Danny rolled his eyes at Claire's pretentiousness before realizing that the noise levels in the room had heightened considerably. Apparently Lancer had finished calling out groups during Claire's little tirade and all the students were talking again; some had even drifted away from their assigned groups and were 'sizing up' their new teammates with their regular clique.

"_Grapes of Wrath_, people! Would you stop chattering and let me talk!" As the noise died down a little, Lancer resumed, though he still seemed shocked at the students' unruliness and his expression was one of dread as he realized he'd be spending the next two days with them. With a small shake of his head, he resumed speech. "The first activity is a treasure hunt. Each team will be assigned a student leader to lead the group throughout the school, picking up clues. It's now eight-twenty; we'll be meeting at ten in the location designated on the last clue, where we'll have our riddle lightning round between the groups who've arrived."

As Lancer was speaking, Starr walked around the classroom handing out the pieces of paper to each group. "Starr will give you you're first clue, with the name of your team leader is written behind it," he continued.

Starr approached Danny's group and handed him one of the clues. The moment the paper was in his hands however, Claire reached out and snatched it from him. Hastily, she flipped it over, apparently anxious to see who'd been assigned the task of team leader.  
And though miffed at her rudeness, Danny couldn't help but feel just a little bit curious when he saw her reaction of disbelief at the name on the paper.

"Daniel?" she muttered disbelievingly, still staring at the page.

The teen's eyebrows shot up. "What? That can't be right…" he muttered before snatching the paper back from Claire's hands to see if she'd read it right.

She had.

Lancer had designated _him _team leader…but…_why_? Lancer would never trust Danny to be leader of anything, and they both knew it. The teacher just thought of the boy as some irresponsible slacker who'd do anything to get out of class. So why did he put him in charge?

Danny looked up from the paper, still incredulous, only to see that most of the class had already started the hunt. Then, hearing Claire's high-pitched voice, he turned to the front of the class to see what was going on. "But Mr. Lancer, please! I have to be team leader. You and I both know I'd be better suited for the job!" she was pleading with the teacher, her eyes filled with despair. If he hadn't been so insulted by the whole thing, Danny might've actually found it funny how seriously she was taking this.

Mr. Lancer, who seemed to be trying very hard to control himself, replied in a firm and taut manner, "Claire, as I've explained before. I've chosen who I've chosen and that's that. Now I suggest you start with your clue or you'll fall behind in the treasure hunt."

Sulkily, the girl trudged back to the group before sighing, "Well what's our first clue, then, Danny?"

"Oh, right!" he unfolded the paper and cleared his throat before announcing, "Chopin and Ludwig played on me, you'll find your next clue in my keys."

"It's the piano in the music room!" Claire shouted almost immediately, apparently trying to prove her worthiness by solving the clue in record time. "Come on, let's go!" She ran out the room towards the music department, Dash, Kwan and Danny followed, though Danny couldn't help overhear the jock bully snicker to a more-than-willing-to-listen Kwan before leaving, "Hey, let's stuff Fentina here in her locker after the treasure hunt's over..." And that was when Danny realized something very unpleasant.

This was going to be a l_ong_ weekend.

* * *

"Paulina, I've already told you we're going the wrong way!" Sam said tightly, clenching her fists while simultaneously trying keep her balance so as not to get knocked over by a passing group who was running towards the auditorium for their next clue.

Sam, Tucker, Valerie and Paulina, who were in the dimmed hallway near the office, had been examining the clue in their team leader's hand for the last six minutes. And even though Valerie, Tucker and Sam all agreed that the clue was pointing to the science labs, their leader, Paulina, disagreed and insisted they check the office for the next clue.

"I'm the team leader here, _goth freak_, and I say we're going the right way!" the latina shot back.

Sam's eyebrows popped up. "Goth Freak? Oh you _do not_ want to go there," Sam threatened.

Waving her hand airily, she said,"Ugh, why don't you just shut up and go hang out with your loser boyfriend Fenton."

"Why, you little witch!" Sam seethed. She lurched forwards at Paulina but Tucker quickly reached forwards and grabbed hold of her shoulders, pulling her back. "Whoa, there Sam. I'm pretty sure killing your team leader gets you disqualified," he said calmingly. "Ease up a little."

She snarled in response but seemed to relax her muscles enough that the techno geek let go of her. Then, with a huff, she mumbled. "I'm going to go get some water."

"And _he's not my boyfriend_," she added angrily as she stalked off.

* * *

Danny stood in front of the vending machine in the hallway near the math classes while Claire and Kwan searched around the area, looking for the clue.

"I can't find it…" Claire said desperately, practically wiping the floor of dust as she tried to reach for a nonexistent clue under the machine.

"Yeah guys," Kwan added, as he got up off the floor, where he'd been looking for the clue behind the vending machine, "It doesn't seem to be here."

Hey, how about we shove Fentonio the Great's head in the vending machine flap?" Dash offered with a leer. "Maybe we'll find it there."

"It was Alexander the Great, you dolt, not Antonio," Claire grumbled frustratedly at the jock.

"Heh…" Danny coughed uncomfortably before raising his voice a little, "Okay, then. So maybe we should just-,"

"Wait. Wait, yes! That's it!" Claire shouted out suddenly. "Dash is right!"

Danny spun to look at her, his eyes widening. "Excuse me?" What, was she encouraging Dash to be beat him up?

"It must be in the flap! The clue must be in the flap!" She dashed towards the vending machine flap and punched her hand into it, flailing it about wildly in search of the clue. When she finally got a hold of it, she let out a yelp of happiness and quickly scanned through it. "Okay, this one is about-,"

Rolling his eyes, Danny turned to face the girl. "Claire, maybe you'd like to be team leader?" he interrupted, raising an eyebrow.

Her eyes seemed to gleam at this and she squealed with delight at the offer. "Oh, you mean it? Thanks, Dan!" she beamed, swallowing her words in one breath before proceeding to read the clue.

At first Danny was startled by her response but he soon pushed away his surprise and muttered, "Yeah, whatever. I'm going to the bathroom."

"Yeah, okay, we'll be in the auditorium," she said distractedly, apparently pondering the team's next move. "Follow me," she suddenly ordered the jocks as she led the way down the hall. The jocks, who seemed a little bit freaked out by Claire's authoritative manner, didn't wait to be asked twice. Probably afraid she'd snap at them or something.

Danny walked off to his locker, hoping to find a book or something to do in there while Claire led the group off. Honestly, he didn't care if they won the stupid treasure hunt or not, as long as he got his points for showing up to the thing.

But as he walked through the empty halls, he couldn't help but feel a little bit uneasy with what had just happened. Claire had just called him Dan...obviously it didn't mean anything- she just thought it was a nickname to replace his full one. Yet even so, the thought of someone else calling him by his future self's nickname made him more than just a little uncomfortable.

Trying to push the thought away, he whispered quietly to himself "I'm just being paranoid. Still...it's going to be a long night."

He had no idea _how_ right he was.

* * *

**Heehee...**

**Just a few things to say here...for those of you who don't like Claire- I know she's an OC, but she won't be having a significant role (at all) in the story at all so please just bear with her for the time being. I need someone like her...someone Hermoine-ish...to fill out the role of Danny's fourth team 'll be gone within the next couple of chapters (probably around 3 or so).  
**

**Hm...as for Starr, I realize she's a little OOC, but I honestly think she would've acted this way in the show if she had a bigger role and if she was class president.**

**Also, I know not very much happened in this chapter- I haven't really delved into the Insomniathon yet, this is more of the intro to the weekend. Hopefully the next one should be fun though, because there'll be a lot more (canon) characters to add in.**

**Other than that, I haven't got much to say...I hope you enjoyed! I haven't started the next chapter yet and I'm not exactly fast when it comes to writing chapters, so I don't know when the next update will be, but I'll try my best. Till then!**

**Crystal**


	3. Chapter 2: Fearful Truths

**I really should wait a little longer before posting this chapter but I actually had the last few days off so I used them to get this chapter done- and now that it is, I figured why not post it? ;) This one takes place on early Saturday morning, after the treasure hunt.  
**

**Anyways, I hope you guys will like this chapter- I certainly enjoyed writing it! Please leave me your comments!**

**Crystal**

* * *

Chapter 2: Fearful Truths

"I'm so exhausted…" Sam moaned. The black-haired goth was sprawled across the floor of the school gymnasium, along with Tucker and several other kids who were scattered about the large sports hall. The cold of the linoleum flooring seemed to be seeping through into her skin, though she didn't really mind it- at least it was helping keep her awake. "What time is it anyways?" she asked, rolling over on her side and raising her head towards Tucker.

"Mmm?" Tucker grunted before realizing that Sam was talking to him. "Oh, um…" Checking his PDA, he replied, "It's three AM."

"_Only?_"

"Yeah," the boy sighed, sitting up off the floor and instead resting his back against the bleachers. "It feels like it should already be noon or something…"

"Tell me about it…" Sam agreed, stifling a yawn.

It had been about ten hours since the Insomnia weekend had started and most of the kids, though tired, were holding up relatively well, especially with all the activities keeping them busy. Right now they were having some free time after being served a disgusting post-midnight snack in the cafeteria, which consisted of lima beans mixed with corn and butter. Luckily, most of the students, including Tucker, had brought along their own snacks. Remembering this, the techno-geek reached into his backpack, which he'd taken from Lancer's classroom, and pulled out a bag of chips, offering some to Sam.

"Nah, I'm good, thanks," she said, waving her hand at the offer. Tucker shrugged and stuffed a handful of chips in his mouth before Sam spoke up again. "Hey, where's Danny anyways? It's free time isn't it? Why isn't he hanging out with us?" she asked.

"Oh, Claire dragged him and the rest of their team over there," Tucker informed her as he pointed to the corner of the gym with the basketball rack. "Something about discussing strategy? You know, because they lost the treasure hunt."

During the treasure hunt, Sam and Tucker had both run into Danny and the trio had decided to ditch their respective groups in order to go to the computer lab and play some videogames.

Which had been fun at first, until Danny was spotted by a fervent Claire who rushed up to him, grabbed him by the shirt collar and dragged him to the English department for the lightning round, which their team ended up losing anyways because Danny wasn't able to answer the 'easiest question in the world'– according to Claire anyways. Apparently the fact that _Molière_ had written _'Le Malade Imaginaire'_ was common knowledge and anyone with a shred of common sense would have known it.

"Wow, she's really obsessed with winning, huh?" Sam pointed out as she watched Danny's group, sitting a few meters away.

Tucker shrugged. "She's known to be very competitive."

"Hm." Sam soon lost interest in their current topic, as did Tucker, and their conversation diverged from the subject of Claire as they began discussing the movie they'd watched yesterday instead, hoping it would keep them awake.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the gym, Danny, Dash and Kwan were trying to stay awake while Claire explained to them their new strategy. She was looking both very determined and a little worried, as if she was trying to explain advanced physics to a bunch of kids who'd never even heard of gravity or something.

"Are you guys clear on the plan then?" she asked for the twelfth time, apparently unaware that Kwan, Dash and Danny were all barely listening to her. Kwan had lain down on the ground under the pretense that his back was hurting, but he'd obviously just wanted to be more comfortable so he could get to sleep, while Dash was busying himself by dribbling a basketball. Danny was barely able to keep his eyes open and fighting to keep from letting his head loll onto his shoulders.

When Claire received no response from the boys, she snapped loudly. "Are you people listening to me?"

"HUH?" Danny and Kwan both snapped their heads up in surprise at Claire's outburst while Dash immediately stopped dribbling his basket ball.

Claire rolled her eyes before desperately repeating, "We're going to strategize for each of the coming games." Then , with a glower at Kwan and Danny, she said crossly "And no more sleeping."

"But, we're allowed at least thirty minutes of sleep at a time," Kwan pointed out.

With a sharp glare at the jock, she scolded, "It's too risky. You might not wake up in time and then you'll be disqualified and we'll lose. Absolutely **no** dozing off."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Yeah, great," he said tiredly. "Can we just please go hang out with other people now?"

With a sigh she agreed, waving away the boys, but not before calling out, "Remember to meet me here before the next activity!"

Barely listening, Danny nodded and walked off quickly before Claire could change her mind. His shoes squeaked against the flooring as he hurried towards Sam and Tucker, who were waving at him. He had to pass by several students who were laying across the ground or hanging out on the bleachers. Most of them were talking with their friends, some were playing board games they'd brought along and one group had started a recreational volleyball tournament on one side of the gym, but was being forced to stop by an irate Mr. Lancer because the ball kept hitting him on the head.

"Hey, you're finally back!" Sam called, making room for Danny on the floor by sliding away her and Tucker's bags.

"Yeah- finally," Danny said in relief. "That Claire girl is _crazy. _Thank goodness I don't need to see her again until the next activity. At least now I can have a few hours to myself."

"Yeah, well, at least you're not in a team with Paulina," Sam said, making a gagging motion with her finger.

Danny seemed to be having trouble at grasping the concept of how being in a team with Paulina could be painful in any way, so instead he turned to Tucker and changed the subject. "Hey, so have you asked any girls out to the dance yet?" he asked.

Tucker sighed. "No luck, dude." Getting up, he continued, "After getting shot down by Sasha, Natalie, Maria, Katherine, Melanie, Stella, Rachel, Tania, Stephanie, Lilian…"

"Is this going to be a long list?"

"Oh, sorry dude. Basically I got shot down my a lot of girls…"

Sam gave a smirk before adding sarcastically, "Maybe you should ask Claire."

Apparently Tucker took this the wrong way because his face lit up at Sam's words. "Hey, you're right! I haven't asked her yet. Thanks, Sam!" He quickly jumped up and bounded over to the long-haired brunette, who was busy compiling a list of the points that each of the team's had won so far (-apparently this was part of strategizing).

Sam shook her head in amusement at Tucker's actions while Danny called after him, "Tucker, I hope you know she's-," but he sighed and lowered his voice as Tucker had now run too far away to hear what he was saying anyways, "Crazy."

Sam laughed. "That's okay," she said lightly, "She'll probably reject him anyways."

Danny nodded. "Yeah, I guess." Then with a yawn, he added, "Ugh, I'm exhausted."

"Why don't you take a nap?" Sam suggested. "Tuck took one a while ago and he seems pretty energized."

Danny brought a hand up to his face and rubbed it, trying to wipe away the tiredness, before answering, "Can't."

"Why?"

"Claire," Danny replied with some frustration.

"Oh," Sam responded, trying to stifle a smirk at the control Claire was exercising over Danny and the jocks.

"It's not funny."

She apologized while getting up off the floor and dusting her skirt. "You're right. I'm sorry. Hey, I'm gonna go get a bottle of water from my locker. Be back in a second."

"Yeah, okay," he drawled tiredly.

The heavy doors of the gymnasium echoed loudly as they closed behind Sam, leaving Danny alone to watch the students in the gym.

Besides Tucker striking out with Claire, there wasn't really very much of anything interesting going on. Near the basketball nets a big group of girls including Starr and Paulina were sitting and talking animatedly while doing their nails and braiding each other's hair. By the south doors near the changing room sat a few other groups, who had organized a big game of Murder Mystery and a few other cliques had settled on the bench, playing Monopoly together. There were also a few people who'd passed out from lack of sleep on the gymnastics mattresses, while their teammates sat beside them, staring at their watches intently. Apparently, they were taking turns to monitor each others' nap lengths so they wouldn't get disqualified.

Meanwhile, Edward Lancer was perched on a chair near the door, scanning through a copy of _War of the Worlds.  
_

Danny gave another yawn as he averted his attention away from his classmates and to Tucker's bag that was sitting next to him. He was just about to reach in and pull out a bag of candy when he heard a voice.

"Hey Danny."

Danny looked up, expecting to see Sam, but instead was greeted with Starr. "We're going to start a game of Truth or Dare," she said. "You wanna come? We're trying to make it a full-class game."

"Oh, um…" Danny trailed off, not exactly thrilled at the offer. Girly slumber party games never really were his thing.

He was spared the trouble of having to answer however, as an all-too familiar voice behind him spoke. "Why of course he'll come!" Surprised, Danny turned to see Claire, standing behind him.

"Okay, great!" Starr said happily. "We're gonna play out in the ninth grader hallway- meet us there in a few minutes." She skipped off to some other group to tell them about the game.

Feeling very annoyed, Danny spun to face Claire. "What are you doing? I didn't want to play that stupid game."

"Well you have to," she replied with equal frustration. Her voice cracked slightly and there was a glint of in her eye– the same kind she got whenever she talked about winning. "We've got to participate in all the activities if we want to have a chance of-,"

"Claire," he exclaimed in exasperation. "This isn't even a planned activity! It probably won't even count!"

"Yes it will," she shot back stubbornly. "Now come on!"

And before Danny even knew what was going on, he was being dragged outside the gym by a forceful, and in his opinion, slightly insane, Claire.

* * *

Danny, Sam and Tucker were sitting in the middle of the hallway near the school's front doors. The hybrid had managed to drag his two friends into the game of Truth or Dare under the pretext that if he had to suffer then so did they. Practically everyone except Mr. Lancer had agreed to participate in the game anyways. But by now they'd been playing for at least twenty minutes and the majority of the participants had been disqualified for refusing to perform a dare or tell a truth in the allotted ten seconds. Sitting in the circle were the trio, Starr, Dash, Claire, Paulina and about three or four other kids from the band, drama and chess club.

"Okay," Starr clapped her hands together, "Everyone move in- the circle's getting smaller."

As they all slid against the floor to tighten the circle, Sam whispered to her friends, "I hope you know if I get dared I'm just going to back out so I can get out of this ridiculous thing." She was still miffed at Danny for forcing her into the stupid game.

Starr however, didn't give Danny or Tucker the time to answer Sam, as she excitedly clapped, "My turn to spin! Okay, here we are…" she spun the bottle in the middle of the circle; it rotated quickly before losing speed, at which point it started to spin in Danny's general direction. When it finally stopped it was pointing at the hybrid himself.

_Aww, great,_ he thought, stifling a groan.

Ignoring this, the blond cheerleader faced him and asked, "Truth or dare?"

Danny'd seen the dares the other students had come up with, and between kissing Dash or recounting his most embarrassing moment, he decided he'd go with truth.

"Truth," he replied firmly.

"Hm, okay…" A few seconds passed as Starr pondered her question. "Ah!" she said suddenly, "I know! Okay," she said now with the utmost seriousness as she leaned in closer to Danny, "What is your biggest fear?"

For some reason, that had been the absolute last thing Danny'd expected to hear and the question slightly troubled the teen, leaving him a bit taken aback. He let a few moments pass before giving a less than articulate answer, "Uh…"

Paulina, who was keeping track of time, stared at the chronometer in her hands. "Eight seconds," she announced.

"Oh…right…" Danny said uncomfortably. "Biggest fear…mm, well, I don't really…" he trailed off for a few moments, unsure of what to say. Obviously he wasn't going to tell these people about…well, about his _real _biggest fear. He had to come up with something else. Rummaging through his memories, he tried to come up with something, anything…But apparently he was taking too long because Paulina chose that moment to call out loudly, "Time's up!"

A little disconcerted at his effort to come up with a fake fear in such a short amount of time, Danny simply nodded dazedly at Paulina's insinuated order to get out of the circle of players.

But getting up, he suddenly felt the need to be alone. He didn't know why, but for some reason, he felt an excruciatingly strong and abrupt urge to isolate himself for awhile. Following his instinct, Danny hastily turned to walk away, but was stopped by Sam.

"Hey!" she whispered loudly from her spot in the group. "Where are you going?"

"Um…I'm just going to go get my backpack from the classroom," he improvised. "I forgot it there yesterday. I gotta go…"

"Okay, but hurry back, dude," Tucker called out. "As soon as we're out of this game, we're heading back to the gym for some more snackage."

"Yeah, sure," Danny said vaguely before walking away, not noticing the strange look his two friends' faces.

He hurried through the halls until he reached Lancer's classroom. He was lying when he told Sam that he needed to go get his bag, but since he could almost feel his friends' gaze on him as he walked away, he figured he may as well do what he'd told them he was going to. Stepping in the class, he rummaged through a pile of overnight bags that had been thrown one over the other until he found his purple backpack. Slinging it over his shoulder, he hurried out of the classroom and headed for the boy's changing room to change into a clean shirt –his old one was getting kind of sweaty anyways.

Once he finished changing he set his bag on the bench and took a seat there himself. With a sigh, he let his head fall into his hands.

What had happened to him back there? The moment Starr had so much as mentioned the words 'biggest fear', his heartbeat had quickened slightly and his mind whirled, preventing him from thinking straight. He'd just passed it off as anxiety about trying to find a decoy fear in ten seconds, but now that he was alone, he realized that there was more to it. As soon as she'd asked the question, his thoughts had drifted –not to thoughts of fear of the dark or of spiders like with most people–but to Dan. His face was the first thing to appear in Danny's mind, and set against a background of destroyed houses and buildings, Danny panicked. No wonder he'd needed to leave the place so quickly after.

As he brooded over the incident, a sudden wave of tiredness swept over him. Feeling exhausted, he spread himself on the bench so that he could rest for a few moments, and he let his eyes close, never expecting the dark abyss of sleep to overtake him.

* * *

"_Stop it! I won't do it! Get away from me!" the teen screamed._

_Dan's palm was pressed tightly against Danny's chest as the teen squirmed beneath his grasp, trying desperately to get out of the painful position he was in. Then suddenly, Danny was hoisted into the air by the collar of his ghost suit and swung violently towards the most terrifying sight he could ever have even imagined.  
_

_Strapped to a ticking time bomb capsule was Jazz, looking desperate and helpless. Her eyes were filled with despair as she looked at Danny, trying to communicate something but unable to because of the cloth wrapped around her mouth. He tried to reach ou__t towards her, but he realized his hands were bound tightly together with a piece of glowing, thick rope._

_"Do it," Dan whispered darkly into Danny's ear. "I'm waiting."_

_Barely breathing, Danny responded in a fearful voice. "__No. No I can't. I'll never hurt her. You can't make me..." _

"_Why not? Don't you want to save you girlfriend?"_

"_What are you talking about?" Danny's eyes widened, his heart practically stopping. Before he knew what was happening, he was being grabbed by the shoulders and spun violently away from Jazz, towards a second bomb, to which Sam was strapped. Before he even had the chance to process the sight of his friend wrapped helplessly around the bomb, he was shoved to ground by his captor. Falling to his knees, he leaned on his bound hands for support. He let his desperate gaze drop to the ground, unable to watch his friend and sister in such a state. _

"_One of them has to go. Make your choice, hero boy."_

_The sinister words kept ringing through his ears. Behind him, he could hear the crackling of smoldering flames from the burning buildings that were falling to the ground. And it was all his fault. He was the one who had destroyed all these people, all these lives. And now he had to choose between Jazz and Sam, and destroy one of them._

"_I can't do it. I can't. Please don't make me do this. Please, take me instead," the boy pleaded, his mind whirring faster and faster with each passing moment._

"_Oh I'm afraid I can't do that. Because if there is no you, then there is no me. And there __**has **__to be a me." _

_And then, a giant crash erupted behind him, and in front of him…and the last thing he could remember was hearing himself scream._

"_**Jazz! Sam!**"

* * *

_

**Poor Danny :(**_  
_


	4. Chapter 3: Sweet Dreams? Yeah Right!

**Whew! It's _finally _done! Alright, a couple of things for this one…**

**Firstly, before I start about the chapter, I want to say a huge thank you to all my amazing readers. To those who fav/alert/read and of course, review- Thank you! Your comments really make my day and always make me smile :D **

**Now, for the chapter. I can't tell you how INCREDIBLY much trouble this one gave me. I rewrote it five or six times and I just **_**can't **_**seem to get it right. I don't know what exactly is wrong with it but somehow it just doesn't feel right. Ah well, I've reworked it so many times and I figured I need to get it up eventually... so here it is. Maybe I'll look over it again later and fix it some more, but I think that's all I can do for the moment.**

**I hope you'll like it! If you spot anything that could be better, don't hesitate to let me know...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 3: Sweet Dreams? Yeah, right!

The horror of his dream engulfing him, Danny writhed helplessly on the floor of the changing room, a cold sweat breaking out on his face. The boy's eyes were tightly shut and his face paled with every passing moment.

"**_No! Stop!"_** he screamed wildly. **_"Stop it! Don't make me choose! I love them both!"_**

Danny's breathing accelerated as sweat trickled down his chest, his moist shirt sticking uncomfortably to his body. The teen rolled violently on the ground, tears leaking out of his eyes and running down his face as he shrieked again, **_"Get away from me! I didn't cheat! Get away!" _**

But he was alone in the room, and only the heavy walls could hear his unconscious cries for help.

* * *

Tucker and Sam roamed around the school, searching for their friend. They'd both been eliminated almost a quarter of an hour ago from Truth or Dare and had since been looking for Danny, hoping for a little video game time before breakfast. Besides that, Lancer had announced that there'd be snacks in an hour and had bestowed upon them the honour of letting everyone who wasn't there to hear the announcement know.

"You know, if the snacks are anything like they were at midnight," Sam pointed out as they passed by the cafeteria, "I think I'll just pass."

"I know," Tucker replied in indignation, "Since when are vegetables considered proper camping food? Where's all the meat?"

Sam shook her head. "That's not exactly what I meant…" She was about to make a quip about Tucker's unhealthy eating habits when a sudden, faint noise caused her to halt in her tracks.

"What's wrong?" Tucker asked, seeing his friend's abrupt stop.

A few seconds of silence passed before she relaxed. "Um, nothing…I just thought I heard something."

With a shrug from Tucker, the two friends continued down the hall, resuming their conversation. They had walked about three meters when Sam suddenly froze in her tracks for a second time, causing Tucker to collide into her.

"Hey!" the techno geek protested, rubbing his head in the spot where he'd bumped into his friend. "What's the big idea?"

"Sh!" the girl commanded suddenly. "Do you hear that?"

With a frustrated sigh, Tucker suggested, "Sam, if you're hearing things, maybe you should go get yourself checked out or somet-,"

But he was cut off by Sam's tight grasp on his arm. "Listen, there's a weird sound coming from over there…" she said quietly, jerking her head towards the end of the hallway.

More out of exasperation than curiosity, Tucker obeyed his friend's command and tilted his head towards the designated area in an effort to hear the sound. After a moment of straining to hear what Sam was hearing, a look of surprise passed over the boy's face.

"Hey, yeah –I do hear that," he said suddenly, his eyebrows furrowing. "Where is that coming from?"

Sam let go of Tucker's arm and slowly moved forward towards the end of the hall, following the disjointed but evermore distinct noises all the way through to the boy's changing room door. Her expression turned into one of distress when she finally pressed her ear against the heavy door and heard a much clearer version of the noise that had brought her to the area.

"**_Get away!" _**

Sam jumped back in alarm at the scream, almost falling into Tucker`s arms. The two of them stood frozen in their spots for a few seconds, unsure of what to do, until a sudden wail succeeded the previous one.

Eyes wide, Sam stared at Tucker, "Tucker?" she said apprehensively. "Isn't that...Danny's voice?"

The boy bit his lip nervously. Without replying to his friend, he uncertainly braved forwards towards the changing room door and placed his hand firmly on the handle.

"Tuck- wait!"

But Tucker ignored his friend's command. He took a deep breath and in one swift movement, pushed the door open.

Two audible gasps followed his action as the two friends stared in horror, mouth agape at the scene before them. Danny was sprawled across the floor, gasping for breath while slamming his fists against the ground repeatedly. He tried desperately to scream, but his mouth wouldn't seem to open unless it was to take in air. Instead, disconnected cries emanated from his throat. His face was pallid, scrunched up in fear, and he was shaking his head violently, as if trying to make a 'no' gesture to some invisible being.

Sam and Tucker exchanged horrified looks. Rushing into the room and falling at Danny's side, Sam put a hand against his forehead, before saying worriedly, "He's burning up!"

Without missing a beat, Tucker rose from the floor where he'd joined Sam and said, "I'll go get Mr. Lancer- you wait here!" He darted out the room, leaving the girl alone with Danny. She shot an anxious look at her friend, who was still trembling vigorously. Just then, his lips parted and a light moan escaped his mouth. Apprehensively, Sam leaned in toward the raven-haired teen and spoke in a steady, gentle voice, despite her nervous state.

"Danny? Can you hear me?"

The boy seemed to stiffen momentarily before he released an earth-shattering moan which quickly altered into a scream.

Engulfed by panic and shock, Sam jumped up off the floor and raced towards the door, pushing it open. Desperately, she popped her head out into the hallway. "Tucker?" she called desperately, hoping he would hear her. There was no answer however. "Tucker!" she repeated loudly, this time with more urgency.

Relief swept over her as the sound of footsteps against the ground approached. A moment later, Tucker appeared around the corner, hurrying towards the changing room and followed by Lancer. Sam quickly moved out of the doorway to let her friend in.

Panting, Mr. Lancer stopped and caught his breath at the door. Hands on his knees, he managed to wheeze out, "Mr. Foley! Would you care to inform me about what in _Gulliver's Travels_ you wanted me to run all the way-," he stopped halfway through his sentence however, when he opened his eyes long enough to see what lay before him. Letting out an alarmed gasp, he demanded, "What in _The Maltese Falcon _is going on here?"

"I don't know…" Sam said. "We were just walking by and…"

But Lancer had stopped listening. Spinning to face a crowd of curious students that had assembled at the door, he snapped at one of the jocks standing near the front, "Shane! Help me carry Daniel out of here!"

The jock hesitated to respond, clearly unsure whether or not he wanted to undertake this task. But when Danny let out another muffled cry, forcing Lancer to repeat his demand more vigorously, the jock quickly rushed over to his teacher's aid.

The two of them managed to hoist up the teen from either end of his body. Once they'd firmly gotten him in their grip, they rushed out the door and towards the nurse's office, followed closely by Tucker and Samantha.

As Shane and Lancer hurried through the hallway, several more people congregated to watch the scene. Ignoring them, the teacher and jock pushed past and hurried towards the end of the hall. Near the office however, Shane slowed down.

Lancer shot him a sharp look. "What in _The Castle of Otranto _are you doing? Hurry up!"

"It's not my fault! He keeps kicking me!" Shane protested, though he soon regained his pace after tightening his hold on Danny's legs.

They finally managed to get in the nurse's office after Lancer used his elbow to open the door, and they gently deposited Danny on the nearest bed. The boy was now wailing uncontrollably. Shane quickly backed away from him in fear.

Lancer headed for the telephone, and with slightly shaky fingers, he started dialing the Fenton's home number. Tucker and Sam had by this time entered the room, and while Sam hurried to cover a shivering Danny with some extra blankets, Tucker headed for the sink to fill up a glass of water for his friend.

As they completed their respective tasks, Lancer's voice –which he was trying with great difficulty to keep steady –filled the room.

"Mrs. Fenton, there's an emergency concerning your son. I think you'll want to come over immediately."

* * *

"I don't understand, Mr. Lancer," Maddie said desperately as she absently stroked her son's cheek. "How could this have happened?"

Maddie, Jack and Jazz had arrived at the school no less than fifteen minutes after Lancer's phone call. They were now standing at the foot of Danny's bed along with the teen's friends and teacher, except for Maddie, who'd taken a seat near the head of the bed. Almost immediately before his family had arrived, Danny'd fallen into a deep, peaceful sleep, no longer twitching or screaming.

Lancer shook his head. "Apparently he wandered off during free time, and when we found him…" he trailed off, gesturing to the exhausted, sleeping teen on the bed. Because Danny had calmed down by the time his family had arrived, Lancer had been forced to explain to the Fentons how he'd been acting. Unable to understand or imagine how it was possible that their son would ever act the way Lancer, Tucker and Sam were insisting, the teacher had resorted to showing the Fentons a tape from the security cam in the changing room. The three of them had watched in horror, and even Mr. Lancer and Danny's two friends cringed when they were forced to relive the experience.

Jazz, who'd' previously been in deep thought, finally spoke up. "But what would trigger something like this, though? Danny's always been a very put-together kid..."

"It might be stress," Mr. Lancer suggested. "Has Mr. Fenton been overexerting himself lately?" he asked, turning to Danny's family. "He certainly hasn't been doing so in his schoolwork, so maybe something at home..."

A few moments of silence passed before Jazz's face lit up. "Hey, yeah! I think that could be it. It might just be a physical manifestation of stress…he has been stretching himself thin lately, what with the SATs a few weeks ago, chores, gho-," the girl's eyes suddenly widened as she realized what she'd been about to reveal. With a nervous laugh, she tried to cover up. "Going to school…it's very stressful to go to school these days! You never know what bully might stop you on the way and demand your lunch money and then you might run late for class and of course we all know teachers can be less than understanding…" she babbled for a few more seconds before Tucker placed a hand on her shoulder, signalling for her to stop before she made things worse. Luckily, Maddie and Jack were too occupied with Danny to notice their daughter's blubbering. Lancer however, had not held back from shooting her a raised eyebrow at her last few words concerning teachers.

"That's not possible though," Sam insisted, frowning. "He wouldn't have freaked out to that extent…"

"It's very possible actually," Jazz countered matter-of-factly. "Sometimes a great psychological or physiological stress can provoke disastrous meltdowns, more commonly when the sufferer is asleep. That's when the deepest thoughts that are stored in the subconscious are manifested. Sometimes, when they're strong enough, they can cause sever breakdowns, especially if the person has been bottling it in for a long time."

Maddie sighed. "I suppose that makes sense. Other than this, Danny's always been very healthy. It might just be some extra anxiety he needs to shake off…althoguh I can't imagine from what. Still, I think we should take him to the doctor later today."

Jack nodded. "That's probably best."

A tense silence fell upon the room. Jack, who'd been uncharacteristically quiet since he'd seen the video, headed to the sink to fill a glass of water while Jazz took Sam and Tucker aside to ask them a few more questions about what exactly had happened. Mr. Lancer was about to address Mrs. Fenton when a weak groan silenced him –and everyone else in the room. The six adults and teens turned to Danny's bed, where the noise had come from.

The boy stirred slightly before repeating the sound. "Mm…mom?" His eyes fluttered softly.

Maddie squeezed her son's hand. Her voice was unsteady as she replied, "Yes, dear?"

"I don't want to go," he mumbled softly.

She looked uncertainly at the others in the room. When they prompted her keep the conversation going, she ventured a response. "Go where, honey?"

"The Nasty Burger…"

Maddie's look of surprise was matched by everyone's in the room. Nonetheless, she managed an answer to Danny's statement. "Don't worry, sweetie. No one's taking you anywhere you don't want to go."

An inane smile spread over his face as he nodded sleepily. "Mmkay." A few more seconds of silence passed before Danny seemed to fall back into a peaceful sleep, leaving Maddie, Jack, Lancer and the kids absolutely baffled.

* * *

Almost three hours after the arrival of his parents, Danny had woken up. He was now sitting up on the bed in the nurse's office, back leaning against the headboard. He sipped on a mug of hot cocoa while his parents had gone to get him something to eat. Sam had passed out from exhaustion on the couch near the nurse's desk but Tucker was sitting at his side, still awake. Jazz sat next to him, reading a book.

He made to put down his mug on the table, but stopped when a tight pain in his abdomen flared up.

"Are you okay?" Jazz asked quickly, noticing her brother's abrupt stop.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Danny managed weakly as he set the mug down with the help of his sister. He wrapped an arm around his stomach to silence the pain a little…his difficulty breathing during his nightmare had left him with sore insides. Then, bringing his hands to his face, he wiped away some of his tiredness. "Mm, so I was out for three hours?"

"A little longer actually, dude," Tucker replied quietly.

Danny shook his head. _Who knew a bad dream could cause so much trouble? _He thought bitterly. The scene of the nightmare was still fresh in his memory. Wanting to distract himself from the thoughts, and maybe also eliminate the tense atmosphere hanging in the room, Danny spoke again. "Is the insomnia thing still going on, outside?" he asked, jerking his head towards the door.

Tucker seemed to take a moment to register that Danny was speaking to him. When he finally did, he replied uncomfortably, though never actually looking straight at his friend. "Uh, yeah…yeah, it is."

Understandably, this disconcerted Danny. Why wasn't Tucker looking at him? What, was he embarrassed or something? Or afraid? It's not like he had done anything wrong…

Somewhat humiliated by the way Tucker was treating him, Danny made to get out of bed under the pretense that he needed a glass of water, but Jazz stopped him. "You need to rest," she insisted, putting down her book. "I'll get it."

Annoyed that his sister had foiled his plan to get a few moments alone but grateful that for the thought that she was helping, Danny lay back in bed. For several minutes, the only sound that could be heard was that of Jazz walking across the room, filling water and returning. As she handed her brother the glass, she seemed to be wearing a thoughtful yet anxious expression. She watched him take a sip and set the glass on his lap.

Realizing that his sister was examining him intently, Danny finally spoke. "What?"

"Can I ask you something, Danny?"

Apprehensive of her question, Danny didn't answer. He knew what she wanted to ask after all. It was the same thing everyone else wanted to ask...according to his friends and family, he'd had a really rough sleep. All he remembered of his unplanned nap was the nightmare and some slight difficulties breathing. But apparently he'd been quite the spectacle...Jazz told him he'd been writhing uncontrollably and his mom had questioned the reason for his erratic shouting.

Ignoring that Danny hadn't given her permission to ask her question, Jazz spoke. "Danny…what exactly happened?"

He remained silent at her question, his gaze falling to the ground. He felt uncomfortable being put on the spot, especially about such a delicate subject as his future evil self. And if he'd been acting half as crazy during his sleep as everyone said, he certainly didn't want to relive the experience.

When Jazz noticed this, she prodded at her brother again, but more gently this time. "Danny, I know you might not want to talk about it, but I really think it will help you."

Danny shifted uncomfortably in his spot before mumbling something incoherent in reply to her question.

"Pardon?"

The boy was silent for a few moments before repeating his response, with little more coherence than the first time and with almost more silence.

"Danny I can't hear you," Jazz said in light frustration. "Will you pleas-?"

"I don't want to talk about it, okay?" Danny snapped suddenly at his sister, angry that she wouldn't let the subject go. He was already embarrassed enough as it was; practically the whole school had seen him go off his rocker…as had his family and friends. And now Tucker was treating him differently. He shuddered to think how Sam would act towards him when she awoke. So why couldn't his sister just let the subject go?

Then, with a sigh, he laid back against the wall and regained his calm. _Relax, Fenton, _he told himself, especially at seeing his sister's hurt expression. He reminded himself that he wasn't angry at her –he was angry with himself…for being so weak…

"Look, I'm sorry," he said softly, shaking his head. "I'm just a bit tired, is all."

Jazz nodded in understanding before getting up. "We'll leave you to rest, Danny," she gave him a warm smile. "Mom and Dad will be here in a bit and after you eat, we'll go to the doctor's."

"Yeah, oka- wait what?"

"We're going to the doctor's," she repeated. "To see what's the matter with you."

"I…it's nothing, Jazz. It was just a nightmare. I don't need to go to the doctor's."

Pulling the covers over her brother, Jazz gave him a disapproving look. "Danny, I saw the tape. That was no ordinary nightmare. It must have been a physical manifestation of stress or something. We need to get you checked out."

Knowing he wasn't about to win this one, Danny relented and lay back down in bed. "Yeah, fine okay."

Jazz gave him a small kiss on the forehead before exiting the room, and Danny smiled, internally grateful that Tucker hadn't been around to see that-he'd already left the room. Danny half wanted to stay up and think about what had caused his nightmare, but the pillow was so comfortable that he decided that maybe he'd just think about it later…

* * *

"Sam?" Tucker asked softly. "Sam are you awake?"

"Mmm..." the goth girl stirred slightly, rolling over on the couch. Slowly sitting up, she rubbed her eyes and asked groggily, "Where is everybody?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Fenton are out getting food and Jazz is studying in the library. I think Mr. Lancer is doing the Insomniathon outside," Tucker replied.

Suddenly remembering why she was asleep in the nurse's office, Sam asked slowly, "Um, where's Danny?"

Tucker pointed to the bed, where lay their sleeping friend. Noticing the look of relief that spread over his friend's face, he commented. "Not too keen on talking to him?"

Sam sighed. "Tuck, I royally freaked out when I saw him earlier. I just don't think I can face him right now...he really scared me."

Tucker nodded. "I know. Dude really freaked me out too. But he woke up awhile ago and he seemed better. Still, I'm kinda worried about him."

A silence hung in the room for several minutes. Finally, Sam spoke again. "I just don't understand what could have happened to make him act that way...it was so...uncharacteristic."

"Well, Jazz said it's stress," Tucker offered a response to his friend's question.

Sam shook her head. "No. That's not all there is to it...I mean, haven't you noticed the way Danny's been acting lately? He barely sleeps and he hallucinates ghosts. And a few nights ago, when he practically fainted during that fight with Vortex, he wouldn't even let you and me take over...something isn't right with him..."

"Well, I dunno about that last thing. Danny's always been very self-sufficient when it comes to ghost fighting..."

"Yeah, but since when does he go through the day on only three hours of sleep? I mean, I know he's lost a substantial amount of rest since he's started ghostfighting, but never this much," Sam argued. "I don't know, I'm just saying that ever since the SATs, he's been acting weird. And I'm worried about him...I don't know what to do..."

Tucker sighed. "I hear you...I guess all we can do now is leave the dude to rest..."

"Yeah," Sam nodded in consent. _I just hope he's okay, _she thought to herself before averting her gaze over to Danny's calm, sleeping form on the bed.

_I **really** hope he's okay._

* * *

**Alright, I honestly didn't know where to end it for this chapter, so I hope this was alright. In fact, I just incledd the last bit with Tuck and Sam right before posting. I really need someone to bounce ideas around with or something! ;D**

**So yeah, the next one will probably take awhile since it's not written out yet. And if the editing is anything like it was for this chapter, then it may be even longer. There'll probably be some jumping around to different scenes in the next one, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there, huh? :)**

**Okay, can't wait to hear from you all- this one was a lot of work so I'd really appreciate it if you could leave me some feedback ;)**

**Love you guys!**

**Crystal**


	5. Chapter 5: Unwanted Visits

**Here it is...chapter 5. And there's a nice little surprise for you guys -a certain someone you've all been waiting for finally makes an appearance. Doesn't show up till a little later in the chapter, but hopefully it will have been worth the wait! Also, this chapter starts off rather calmly, but there's quite a bit more emotion as it goes on- just thought I'd give you the heads up. Okay, enjoy for now, and I'll talk to you at the end!**

* * *

Chapter 5: Unwanted Visits

"Well, your temperature seems fine," the tall, broad chested doctor announced. He removed the thermometer from Danny's mouth, shook it off, and placed it back in his bag.

Danny had been feeling too ill to get out of bed when he awoke, so his parents had asked the teen's doctor if he'd be so kind as to perform a house…er, school call. Luckily, Dr. Fletcher was a friend of Maddie's from her old high school, and had agreed to come in and check on Danny. The boy himself had been less-than-willing to let the rest of the students see him under such serious care, but Maddie's insistence on the matter was firm, and he ended up undergoing the check-up.

"You seem fine, physically. I guess that nightmare gave you quite the scare though, kiddo?" Dr. Fletcher chuckled.

Danny smiled nervously. "Heh, yeah..."

"Well, I'm almost done here. I just need to check your breathing," the man said as he pulled a stethoscope out of his bag. Danny sat up, legs dangling over the side of the bed. Doctor Fletcher positioned his stethoscope under Danny's shirt, pressing the cold instrument against his bare back.

A few moments passed before the doctor made a 'hmph' sound and gently tossed the instrument back in his carry-around bag.

"Is there a problem?" Danny asked.

"No, actually, you're fine…I do suggest you get plenty of rest for the next few days however- you've really worn yourself according to the tape I saw."

Danny cringed. His doctor had seen the tape? Great, so everyone he knew who hadn't seen him royally freak out firsthand had gotten to experience it courtesy of Casper High's infallible security system. Honestly, didn't he at least have the right to _some _privacy?

He pushed away his feelings however as he suddenly realized something. "Wait, plenty of rest?" he repeated his doctor's words. "But what about the Insomniathon?"

The man just chuckled. "Oh no, Danny, I'm afraid you'll have to go home early. You can't handle another day of sleeplessness."

Danny sighed. Not that he was particularly upset about the rightful return of the rest of his weekend…but there was one thing that worried him slightly...

_Claire's going to kill me._

"I will prescribe some painkillers though, just to relieve the muscles you strained. Those convulsions really took a toll on your stomach and abdomen muscles." Dr. Fletcher reached into his white coat's pocket to pull out something, but his hand emerged empty. "Hmm, must've left my notepad in the car," he mumbled to himself. "Give me a moment, will you, Danny? I'll just go grab it."

Danny nodded, watching his doctor leave the room. He jumped off the bed, sick of having been glued to it for the past several hours. Feeling rather dehydrated, the teen went to get himself a glass of water.

Meanwhile, Dr. Fletcher had stopped along the way to his car to talk to Danny's parents and sister. "Physically, he's absolutely healthy," he told them. "Just a bit of muscle pain from all the wriggling. I'm going to prescribe some painkillers. Till then, he should rest easy and avoid any physical exertion."

"But, Matt, if there's nothing wrong with him, then why did he…?" Danny's mom trailed off. The doctor simply shook his head. "It's nothing medical, Madeleine. I'm afraid that's all I can tell you." With that, he took off towards his car.

Back inside, Danny was returning to his bed, a glass in his hand, when he heard Jazz speaking in loud desperate tones outside the office. Upon closer inspection, he realized that she was speaking to his parents about him…naturally, his curiosity got the better of him and he paused in his tracks, listening intently to his sister's words.

"See Mom, I told you a doctor wouldn't do anything! I really think Danny would benefit from some time off school and some _professional_ help."

"Oh, I don't know, sweetie. It sounds a bit extreme…"

"Yeah, Jazzypants," Danny's dad's voice joined in. "No one in the family's ever needed that sort of…help."

"Guys, trust me. I know it seems a bit much, but it's much more common than you might believe. There's one in Amity…I'll call and ask if he can do anything."

Danny's eyebrows creased. What were they talking about? '_One_' what? And _'professional help_'? What exactly was Jazz going on about?

He had little time to ponder the issue however, as his doctor chose this moment to re-enter the room.

"Here we are," he said jovially, waving the notepad in the air. Dr. Fletcher pulled a pen out of his pocket and scribbled something illegible on the paper. He ripped it off the pad with ease and handed it to Danny. "This is a refill prescription in case you need it; I'll give you a sample until then," he said, handing his patient a small bottle.

"Thanks," Danny replied, taking the medication as he jumped back onto the bed. He read the dosage on the back of the bottle. When he looked back up, he noticed that his family and friends were re-entering the nurse's office upon Dr. Fletcher's permission. Maddie and Jack were taken to the side by the doctor, who was telling them about the medication he'd prescribed to Danny, while Tucker and Sam approached Danny's bed. Jazz was nowhere to be found.

Sam cleared her throat before saying awkwardly, "So…you feelin' better?"

"I have a killer headache and my stomach still aches like crazy, but yeah…I think I'll live," the teen laughed nervously. Both Sam and Tucker gave each other uncertain smiles, but the odd expressions on their faces upset Danny, and his own expression turned to one of irritation as he realized what was going on.

"You know," he started, suddenly cross as he stuffed his meds and prescription into his jeans pocket, "You don't need to act like I'm some sort of freak."

The two friends' expressions quickly changed to ones of surprise. "What? What are you tal-," Sam began.

"I can see the way you guys are looking at me. You've been acting weird since yesterday. You think I'm a lunatic or something."

No, Danny, we don't think tha-," Sam said quickly, waving her hands for emphasis.

But he cut her off again. "It was just a bad dream, okay? I don't want you guys to look at me any differently." The teen rose off the bed and headed away from his friends, towards the door.

"We don't," Tucker assured Danny, quickly catching up to him. "We're just…worried."

"Yeah," Sam added cautiously. "We've never seen you like that before...Are you sure it was _just_ a bad dream?"

Danny stopped in his tracks, letting out a small sigh as his gaze dropped to the ground. The boy shut his eyes tightly. He was overreacting and he knew it- letting his pride get in the way of his ability to think clearly. That scene from yesterday had really wounded his ego. He'd allowed everyone to see him at his most vulnerable, and he knew that his defiant attitude now was only a compensation for his previous display of weakness. He could so easily avoid all of this if he had someone to talk to…

But…he just couldn't tell Sam and Tuck the problem. They wouldn't understand his fears. How could they? They hadn't seen even a fraction of his evil future self's possible power.

They hadn't seen Vlad, his most powerful enemy, in the pathetic state he was in after Dan- after _he'd-_ destroyed him. Shredded clothes, skin and bones and unable to so much as step foot out of his underground laboratory for fear of stirring Dan's fury…they hadn't gasped at the look of trepidation on his face. His sunken eyes, his tired stare and his deep wrinkles…only Danny had experienced it.

Nor had they seen what had happened to the ghosts in the Ghost Zone. Ember, Johnny, Skulker…all of them wasted, all because of him. And Amity Park in ruins…also because of him. They hadn't felt their own future self's deathly grip on their wrist as Clockwork's time medallion was violently thrust into their chest, leaving them powerless and unable to rescue their friends from a mess _they'd_ caused. And they hadn't watched helplessly at the Nasty Burger as their loved ones were torn away from them, while there was nothing they could do about it.

And even though Danny had already retaken the test and hadn't cheated…even though Clcokwork had fixed everything, his fate was not sealed. It was like Clockwork had said, wasn't it? Time can take many twists and turns to arrive to a different outcome…or to the same one. It no longer mattered whether he'd cheated or not on the test, because that was only one possible route to the same disastrous result: Dan. He had to be careful from now on. He couldn't go around savouring power the way he used to, he had to make sure he never, _never_ did anything that could turn him into Dan.

Danny pushed away his thoughts as he squeezed his eyes shut, clenching his fists tightly. "I'm fine. I promise…I just need to be alone for awhile." He continued forward, towards the door, barely noticing Jazz walking in at the same time as he'd tried to go out.

"Ow!" the two of them cried simultaneously as they bumped into each other.

Jazz rubbed her head before looking up to see who she'd bumped into-her little brother. "Oh, Danny, it's you. Are you alright?"

"Uh, yeah," he said, disconcerted as he watched his sister quickly stuff her cellphone into her pocket; he couldn't help but catch a glimpse of the glowing screen on her phone before she pushed it out of his sight. It read: _Last call 945-8845 : Dr. Kelly_.

_Why is she calling a doctor at this hour? _Danny thought to himself, perplexed. _Dr. Fletcher is already here anyways_...

Jazz's voice however, interrupted his thoughts. "Good to hear, little brother. Oh hey, looks like Mom and Dad are done with Dr. Fletcher." Danny turned to see the doctor shaking hands with his parents. He made for the door, and before leaving, stopped to ruffle Danny's hair. "You take care, okay kiddo?"

Danny managed a weak smile and nodded, straightening out his hair the moment Dr. Fletcher turned around.

"Danny, would you come here, sweetie?"

Danny's attention was averted towards his mother. "Yeah?"

"Sweetie, I think it's time you go home. You'll be able to rest better there."

Danny gave a tired sigh. "Yeah, I guess so."

Jack turned to Jazz. "Jazzykins, will you go get Mr. Lancer so we can tell him we're taking Danny home?" The girl nodded and ran out into the hallway to find the teacher. She was apparently good at tracking people, because no more than a few minutes later, she, Danny, and their parents were standing at the school doors while Mr. Lancer handed Danny the backpack he'd left in the locker room.

"Take care, Mr. Fenton. And don't worry about your extra credit…I'll come up with a makeup assignment for you."

Danny took his backpack from the teacher and nodded at his offer- though he wasn't too sure whether he was thankful or just annoyed that he was being given more work. He turned to leave, following his family out of the school, but was stopped by Tucker's hand on his shoulder. Behind him stood Sam.

"Take care, 'kay dude?" his techno-geek friend said.

Danny managed a smile at the sight of his forgiving friends. With a small sigh, he said, "I'm sorry for before. I was overreac-,"

But Sam interrupted. "It's okay, Danny. We're used to your blown-up ego and massive pride. You're forgiven."

He rolled his eyes amusedly. "Good. So we're cool?"

Tucker gave him a fist bump. "Totally." Sam smiled and waved as he left the school.

Danny made for the RV, where his parents were already waiting for him. Jazz climbed up into her seat, and as the boy entered the car behind his sister, he distinctly heard her whisper to their dad,

"I called him, but I have some bad news. I'll tell you at home."

* * *

About two days had passed since the Insomniathon, and things had returned to normal at the Fenton home. Well, _relatively _normal, anyways. After two days of not blowing up again the way he'd done at the school, Danny's family figured that everything had gone back to normal…or at least, that's the way Danny had chosen to interpret it.

In truth however, Danny was still being treated like a king. His mother was still worried about him, letting him stay home from school (at least until he felt better) and watch television all day as she brought him pancakes and cookies and milk. In the midst of this princely treatment, he'd almost forgotten about his dream and about Jazz's mysterious conversation with their parents at school.

Almost.

At the moment, he was watching cartoons in his room and trying to see if he could do that thing where a person throws popcorn up in the air and catches it in their mouth. According to the mess of kernels around his bed though, he wasn't succeeding. A commercial appeared on the screen, so he muted the TV and kicked off his covers (gently- so as not to aggravate his still aching muscles), deciding to take a bathroom break.

As he wandered out into the hallway, he heard his parents' voices downstairs, along with Jazz's.

"Like I said, I called Dr. Kelly, but he's retiring in a month," his sister was saying. "He's no good to us if he'll be out of the business in a few weeks."

"Then we only have one other choice," another voice- his dad's- said.

Danny quietly tiptoed to the staircase and crouched down on the floor, peering through the banister bars to see his family. They were sitting in the living room, all of them on sofas with their backs to him. Jazz was talking about that call again…was this conversation about him then?

Maddie seemed to sigh, her form melting slightly into the couch. "I'm not convinced about your 'other choice', Jack. I don't really believe he just offered all that, just to help Danny."

So they **were** talking about him! But just _who_ was offering_ what _to him?

"Oh, come on Maddie, he's a good guy! He's offered to pay for the treatment and give Danny a place to stay until he's cured."

Maddie seemed unsure. "And he just called you this morning out of the blue?"

"Well, yeah. He was checking up on his old buddy, and when he asked me about the family, I told him about Danny's problem. He suggested it was stress and offered to help us."

A few moments of silence passed, during which Danny further pondered the mysterious conversation. Just what was his family talking about?

"I don't like this, Jack. I don't like being in anyone's debt…especially _his."_

"Relax Mads! We'll pay him back! Think of it as a loan."

Jazz chimed in, "Come on, Mom, the plan's foolproof. And this is the only way to help Danny, especially since he refuses to tell us what his dream was about. We just have to make sure that we don't tell him about the idea just yet. You know his pride issues; he'd never accept it. We'll have to _show_ Danny how good this will be for him …then maybe he'll agree to the idea."

But Maddie seemed determined to find a problem with Danny's mysterious benefactor. "Well what about school?"

"Oh, Danny can miss a few weeks of school," Jack waved a hand. "He'll catch up quickly."

"Yeah," Jazz agreed. "His health and well-being matters most. And even if that means sending him to live with a creepy old Packer's fanatic in Wisconsin so that he can get professional psychological help…well, I think we should do it."

Danny's grip on the bars loosened considerably as his eyes widened in fear.

_Vlad? _They wanted him to go _live _with…_VLAD?_

* * *

Danny rushed back to his room, shutting the door behind him.

_No, no, no, no, no!_ This wasn't happening! His family_ wasn't_ down in the living room, plotting to send him off to his archenemy's house! As if it wasn't bad enough that they wanted him to see a psychologist because they thought he was unstable; but they were shipping him off to Wisconsin to do it! Several frantic, fragmented thoughts ran through Danny's head as he desperately tried to piece together what was going on.

Suddenly, a thought hit him.

_Wait a minute. I don't have to go…Jazz said herself that they would keep this from me for awhile, because otherwise I might make the __**wrong decision**__. But that means that ultimately…it's my __**choice**__ if I go or not…so I can just say that I don't want to go!_

The sheer simplicity of the the solution was foolproof, and the thought eased Danny's nerves for awhile. However, there _was _one thing that bothered the teen…His dad had said that Vlad's call was out of the blue. _Nothing _was out of the blue with Vlad. Danny pondered this for awhile, but then decided, _well, whatever… as long as I don't have to go, I won't have to worry about that frootloop's plans. _

Content, Danny turned to check the time on his dresser. Seeing that it was time for another painkiller, he pulled out a bottle of medication from his drawer. He rubbed his sore stomach before popping a pill in his mouth and returning to his television program.

* * *

Danny slept uneasily that night. He tossed and turned relentlessly, but he was at least thankful that there were no nightmares to freak him out. The following day was rather eventless, besides his dad pestering him about helping him try out his new invention: the Fenton Annihilator. Luckily, he got out of that one by pretending that he had some chores to do. He'd stayed home again because his muscles were still immensely sore however, so the excuse was rather flimsy. Nonetheless, it worked.

Danny had briefly considered bringing up the ordeal his parents were talking about with Jazz the previous day, but then decided it would be best not to talk about it unless they said something first; he didn't want them to know he'd been eavesdropping.

At around six PM, after a short power-nap, he rose out of bed and headed to the washroom to freshen up. As he passed by the staircase however, he changed his mind and decided to go get himself some food first- he hadn't eaten in hours and was more than a little hungry. Still in pain, he hobbled down the stairs and made his way into the kitchen, totally unprepared for what greeted him.

At the table, was seated a man in a crisp black suit. His greyish-silvery hair was combed back in a neat ponytail, a few solitary strands falling around his face at the front. He wore a devious smile as his eyes caught a glimpse of Danny in his black sweats and his white pyjama t-shirt.

Vlad.

"Ah, Daniel, my dear boy! How wonderful to see you," he drawled, his eyes glinting.

Danny's initial reaction had been utter shock- seeing Vlad sipping tea with his parents in the kitchen had been the last thing he'd expected to see... But noticing that Vlad's smile had grown in satisfaction at his reaction, Danny instantly put his guard up. He couldn't let his archenemy think he had the upper hand.

"Hiya, Danny!" Danny's dad said suddenly. Looking up, the teen saw that his father was at the fridge, getting fudge, and his mom was at the coffee machine. The sight of his archenemy at his kitchen table had made him lose notice of his parents' presence in the room. "Look who came to pay us a visit!" Jack continued happily.

Danny pressed his lips together. "Yeah. I see."

Maddie, apparently noticing the sudden rise in tension in the room, quickly addressed her son. "So, did you have a nice nap, hun?"

"Well, it _was _nice, until I came down here. You want to tell me what's going on exactly?"

"Danny honey," Maddie smiled uneasily, a cup of steaming coffee in her hand, "why don't you have a seat?" She pulled a chair out for him at the table as Jack took a seat near Vlad. Danny limped over to the chair his mother'd pulled out for him, though he tried to minimize the appearance of his aching abdomen. He wasn't too enthusiastic about Vlad knowing about his currently weak state. Nonetheless, he couldn't help but wrap an arm around his stomach for support as he scooted his chair towards the table.

"Are you alright?" Maddie asked, noticing this.

"I'm fine," he responded swiftly, keeping his voice barely above a whisper. Danny sat silently in his spot, watching Vlad with an annoyed expression.

"Well Danny, m'boy, we need to talk to you. V-man here," Jack said, giving his old college buddy a slap on the back that caused him to choke on his tea, "has made us an offer we think you'll appreciate."

"Really?" Danny cocked an eyebrow, his gaze still locked on Vlad. "What offer?"

"Well, dear…" Maddie cut in, "we've noticed that you've been very, er…stressed out lately. And if your stress was so strong so as to cause you to get sick the way you did at school and still be in pain three days later…we've decided that maybe you should get some help…"

"_Psychological_ help," Vlad corrected, a smirk on his face.

Danny growled at the swipe at his pride, his eyes momentarily flashing a bright green.

Jack however, continued what Maddie was saying, completely oblivious to the halfas' interaction. "Problem is, the only psychologist in Amity is retiring soon and he won't be able to take any new patients."

"And _that_, my dear boy, is where _I_ come in," Vlad spoke, his smile growing. "It would be much too difficult, expensive and time-consuming for your dear mother to drive you to a neighbouring town's psychologist on a weekly basis. The nearest one is almost two hours away, and he only works on weekdays. Thus, it's been decided that the only solution to the problem is for you to live in the same city as your psychologist."

"But, to have you live alone is out of the question…" Jack continued, oblivious to the fact that Vlad hadn't mentioned his name, but only Danny's '_dear mother_'s', when speaking of the effort needed to accommodate the teen.

"…And since we've got no close relatives around…"

"Nonsense, Maddie," Vlad waved his hand lightly, "You know that Danny is like a nephew to me."

Maddie made a sniffing noise. "Yes, well…"

Vlad continued. "I've offered for you to come and live with me for the time being. Just for a few weeks while you get the treatment you need. I know a psychologist near my mansion in Wisconsin- he'll have you stress-free within just a few sessions."

The teen's eyes narrowed. He couldn't believe the frootloop had the nerve to do this. To come into his house, suggest _he _was the one in need of mental help, and somehow convince his parents that it would be okay to live with him? Well, he'd show him! Drawing himself up in his chair, Danny took a breath and firmly replied, "No."

The three adults looked at each other in mild surprise, though Vlad's expression was not without derision.

"Sorry?" Maddie asked.

"I don't want to go," Danny repeated bluntly.

A tense silence hung in the room as Jack and Maddie exchanged looks. Maddie bit her lip nervously before looking up into her son's eyes.

" Danny hun, I'm afraid it's not a choice."

"Okay, well I'm glad that's settl-," Danny began, but he suddenly paused halfway through his response as the full effect of his mother's words dawned upon him. "Wait, what?"

"We're worried about you, son…and we want you to get help…" Jack explained.

"Dad, I'm fine. Really," Danny assured his father, though he was slightly startled at the seriousness with which his parents were addressing him. "There's no reason for you to worry."

"Sweetie," Maddie said softly, "I'm afraid you **have **to go."

The room was dead silent as Danny tried to process this. Finally, he gave a nervous laugh. "This is a joke, right? You're joking...I don't actually have to go…"

As his parents responded with silent, solemn looks, a wave of panic rushed through Danny's body, immobilizing him in alarm. They **weren't **joking. They were dead serious.

_This wasn't part of the plan…_he thought fearfully. _They're not supposed to be forcing me to go with Vlad; it's supposed to be my choice! Why aren't they letting me choose? _

The teen stared anxiously at his parents before desperately stammering out, "B-but…N-no! Guys, I'm fine! R-really!"

"Well according to that tape, sweetie…"

"Mom, it's nothing serious!" Danny urged, his eyes pleading.. "It hasn't happened since then…I promise I'm fine!"

"That's the whole point, Danny," Maddie argued desperately. "We don't want it to happen again…There's nothing wrong with you physically- we've already established that. But there does seem to be _something _wrong with you, and a psychologist can hel-,"

"You can't force me…I don't need to go! Mom, please!"

"Danny!" Maddie insisted, trying to speak over her son's pleas. "Please just listen!" She took a breath before continuing. "We care about you dear…we want you to get better….the way you acted back there wasn't natural…you need medical attention, and I'm afraid this is the only way."

Danny shook his head in disbelief, whispering quietly, "No. No, you can't do this…"

"Sweetheart, please don't make this more difficult than it needs to be. It will only be a few weeks- it's really not a big deal…"

A sickening feeling spread through Danny's chest. His throat tightened as the thought he'd been trying to push back since the appearance of Vlad in his kitchen finally surfaced to the top of his mind.

_It's happening…I'm being forced to go to Vlad's…just like in the alternate time-line with Dan! _

Feeling nauseous, Danny bolted off his chair and dashed up out of the kitchen, running to his room at top speed. Slamming the door behind him to silence his parents' cries of 'Danny! Come back here!', he slid across the floor and grabbed his backpack from under his bed; luckily it was still packed from his weekend at the school. Strapping it over his shoulder, he opened his window, and after crying his signature catchphrase, he flew out into the skies of Amity.

* * *

"Sam, I'm not sure about this…"

Tucker sat at his goth friend's desk in her lavishly furnished bedroom. He was slurping a kiwi lemonade drink that Sam's butler had brought up as his goth friend paced about the room. The two friends had decided to meet up, (actually, Sam had dragged Tucker home with her after-school), in order to discuss Danny's…problem.

"Listen, aren't you worried about Danny?" Sam asked, stopping in her tracks and spinning to face her techno-geek friend.

"Of course I am!" Tucker said, "But you heard him. He said it was just a nightmare…he doesn't want us to think any differently of him. Shouldn't we respect that, Sam?"

"I do respect him!" Sam protested. "But you saw him…he was practically foaming at the mouth! We need to- I dunno- stage an intervention or something. We're his best friends, and the only ones in the world who can fully understand him. It's our responsibility to help him."

Tucker sighed, shaking his head. "Well, when you put it like that…"

"Okay, good." Sam jumped onto her bed and reached under her purple and black lace pillow, pulling out a small notebook.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm just gonna take note of all the stuff he's been doing lately so that we can have a better idea of how to help him," Sam explained. Tucker simply shrugged.

"Alright," she started, opening the book to an empty page. "He's been acting weird ever since the SATs. Remember? First there was the disappearing ghost incident he told us about…then the thing at school this weekend." She jotted this down in her book.

"Did you also notice that he kept screaming 'get away' while he was in the locker room?" Tucker added.

"Yeah, like something was attacking him…" The girl penned that in her book as well.

"And in the nurse's office- he said something about the Nasty Burger and not wanting to go there," Tucker continued as Sam added that to the list.

She chewed on her pen for a second, and was about to say something else when a loud thudding noise near the window startled her. She spun around in surprise and Tucker quickly rose from his chair to see what was going on. Their gazes fell to the ground in front of Sam's antique dresser, where they saw their friend, in ghost form, on all fours on the ground.

Breathless, Danny rose off the floor, leaning his weight on Sam's dresser with one hand.

"Danny!" Sam gasped, bolting off the bed and rushing to him, letting her notebook fall out of her hands and slide across the floor.

"Dude, are you okay? You look awful!"

Danny swallowed as he let his free hand rest on his thigh. Obviously, he'd been flying full-speed all the way to Sam's. He panted helplessly for a few more moments before coughing out, "Guys- you've got to help me!"

"What's the matter? Is it a ghost attack?" Sam asked hurriedly, grabbing for a thermos from under her bed.

He swallowed, dry air entering his mouth. "Worse…"

"Tucker," Sam ordered, "roll the chair over here!"

Tucker obeyed, pushing his chair towards Danny, but the hybrid motioned for him to stop with a wave of his hands.

"No time! I've got to get out of here…"

"Why? Danny what's going on?"

"It's my parents. Th-they've-," he stammered, stopping to take a breath. He steadied himself, and was about to continue when he caught a glimpse of Sam's open notebook on the floor. Seeing his name, Danny's eyebrows creased...he shot a tired, but questioning look at his friend. Sam, in turn, hastened to slide the notebook under her bed with a kick of her foot, but was unable to do so fast enough. Danny had already grabbed the book off the floor and his eyes were scanning over the list Sam had written out.

A few moments of awkward silence passed as Sam and Tucker exchanged worried glances. Finally, Danny looked up and spoke.

"You guys were talking about me?" he asked slowly. His quiet gaze drifted back from Sam to Tucker.

Only an embarrassed silence answered Danny's question.

Danny suddenly threw the book to the floor, startling his friends. "I thought I told you guys I didn't want to be treated differently!"

"Hey," Sam retorted, a slight bite in her voice; she was getting sick of Danny's constant outbursts at their attempts to help him. "We're just worried about you. Tone down the pride-o-meter for a few seconds, will you?"

"Yeah dude, we're not the bad guys here…and since you won't tell us what's the matter, we just wanted to-,"

"Well stop it okay? I don't want your help! I don't want anyone's help!" In a fit of anger, Danny turned invisible and shot out Sam's window, tearing through the sky.

* * *

**Poor Danny- he feels so betrayed :( First his parents hand him over to his enemy (albeit unknowingly), and then when he goes to his friends for help, he finds out they've been talking about him behind his back… Atmosphere's certainly tensing up!**

**Anyways, this one was quite long- a good fourteen pages on Microsoft word…I considered splitting in two, but I really wanted to get Vlad in the story, so I left it as a long one. I can't promise my future chapters will be this length, especially since it makes the editing so much harder…Anyways, the story's picking up, and I hope you guys are enjoying it! I've worked really hard on this one, so please let me know your thoughts...Thanks! **

**The next one probably won't be for quite awhile- ****Till then!**

**Crystal**


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